We splurged on this trip for a couple of reasons: 1) It was our first vacation alone since our honeymoon. 2) We knew it would probably be years before we would take another trip like this. So we booked at the Ritz and upgraded to a club level suite so that we could take advantage of the club level amenities, including a breakfast buffet, lunch spread, appetizers at dinner time and desserts in the late evening. Not to mention the FREE alcohol. Considering the prices you pay at the Ritz, which is totally worth it for the service you receive there, the upgrade was a really smart decision and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.

We let them know it was an anniversary trip for us so they upgraded us further to a very nice suite with a full balcony. 

Friday night we went to BLT steakhouse for dinner. I had the short ribs and Erik had a steak. I can honestly say they were the best short ribs I've ever had. For dessert we shared the peanut butter mousse and the caramelized cheesecake. I can still taste the peanut butter. It was that delicious.

Saturday we spent pretty much the whole day at the pool bar, making friends and having cocktails. We ran into Pam & Dodd while there, along with another couple from North Carolina, and ended up making dinner plans with all of them for that evening at Il Mulino, the most expensive and probably least exciting meal we had while there. 

 We spent Sunday morning lazily in bed after a looonnnnggg day the day before and didn't make it down to the pool until lunch time. The pool area was beautiful and the water was perfect. We even had some local wildlife hanging out on the lion statues.

Sunday night, our last night in San Juan, we ventured out to a restaurant recommended to us by some fellow pool goers who have been to San Juan many times: Zest. It was as delicious as we were told and we enjoyed a nice evening away from the hotel. We came back to the room after dinner and opted to watch the Superbowl from our room, rather than from the sushi bar downstairs where a Superbowl party was in full swing upon our return.

Monday morning we decided to head to Old San Juan for breakfast and some sightseeing. We started at Cafe Mallorca at the recommendation of one of the club waitstaff and it was very good. Then we ventured around Old San Juan and took in some of its history. 

Colon Plaza

"Originally, the city wall (La Muralla) ran through this area and a large gated entrance was located on this spot. However, this portion of the protective city wall was removed in the late 1800's, but this area still serves as somewhat of an entrance to Old San Juan from the rest of the city.

The highlight of Colon Plaza is the statue of Christopher Columbus in the middle of the plaza. The statue features Christopher Columbus standing regally on top of a pillar with ships and sea serpents coming out of the base.

A fountain surrounding the statue shoots streams of water towards the base of the statue.The statue commemorates the 400th anniversary of the discovery of Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the new world. Christopher Columbus originally named the entire island of Puerto Rico to be San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist), however the island was later renamed and only the capital city of San Juan retains the name. Bronze plaques on the base of the monument provide pictoral representations of the ocean journey and arrival of Christopher Columbus and the meeting of the indigenous people."

San Cristobal Fort

"San Cristobal Fort is located along the northern coast of Puerto Rico overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The stone fort was contructed by the Spanish in 1634 to supplement El Morro in protecting the city of  San Juan from pirates and invading armies. A protective sea wall stretches from El Morro Fort to San Cristobal Fort and some sections are as high as 150 feet.

San Cristobal Fort is a large complex, about 27 acres, that has towering walls, barracks, sentry stations, tunnels, dry moats and bridges that all combine to make an impressive structure. The fort provides stunning views of the ocean as well as the city of San Juan."

Outside of the fort:

Views from within San Cristobal Fort:

Finally, we took a long walk over to El Morro Fort.

"El Morro Fort, also known as Fort San Felipe del Morro (Castillo de San Felipe del Morro), is a defensive fort built in 1539 to protect the city of San Juan from invading armies and pirates. The fort is located in the Old San Juan section of the city of San Juan at the tip of the peninsula serving as the entrance from the Atlantic Ocean into San Juan Bay.

El Morro Fort is surrounded by large grass fields where tourists and locals enjoy the large open spaces with picnics, food carts, flying kites, people watching, or even an impromptu ballgame. The entire fort and the surrounding grounds are encompassed by the historic protective city walls known as La Muralla.

El Morro Fort itself contains a museum, a lighthouse (still functioning), military barracks, dungeons, ramparts, sentry boxes."

We finished our sight seeing, headed back to the hotel and packed up everything for our trip home. Overall it was a really great trip and we enjoyed visiting Puerto Rico. Its a place I'd love to go back to and spend more time exploring now that we've had a small taste of this beautiful place and what it has to offer.